The surroundings were eerily quiet.
No one answered Wei Lin's question.
Could it be... "It's been resolved so quickly?" Wei Lin's smile had already begun to stiffen by this point.
"You don't need to worry about that matter anymore. Focus on dealing with the issue at hand first," someone from the board of directors spoke up.
Wei Lin's heart sank.
From the tone of that response, it seemed the matter hadn't been resolved, just temporarily set aside.
This attitude wasn't a good sign at all.
Not a single person had followed up on his comment...
Recently, quite a few incidents had occurred within the group. It was understandable that Wei Wenjuan, a young master who previously didn't involve himself in business affairs, wouldn't grasp the intricacies and importance of these matters. But these people should certainly understand.
"The police have provided forensic data from the crime scene. The attack was carried out by assailants hiding in the woods. They found 9mm Parabellum pistol rounds, .40 S&W pistol rounds, and .50 BMG sniper rounds at the scene..."
"The 9mm Parabellum rounds were fired by our bodyguards. The .40 S&W rounds are typically used by Kurokawa Shin's side.
"Ke Muning's company and the manufacturer of .40 S&W are competitors. It doesn't make sense for him to use ammunition produced by a rival company. That doesn't fit his character. So our preliminary conclusion is that Kurokawa Shin kidnapped Miss. Any objections?"
As a board member spoke, he set down the documents in his hand.
"Couldn't they have deliberately used different bullets to frame someone?" Wei Lin asked.
"You need to leave no traces when killing someone, but in a kidnapping, you actually need to leave your name. That's normal logic," Wei Wenjuan said coldly.
Wei Lin cursed inwardly, "Now your brain is working well!"
The board member then picked up a developed photograph and held it up to Wei Lin: "This is a photo of you and Kurokawa Shin together. Any objections?"
"I was just going to see Mr. Jefferson and happened to run into him on his way out."
"You were supposed to leave with Miss. Why did you return halfway?"
"I've already explained, it was to see Mr. Jefferson," Wei Lin said, struggling to control his tone. If he showed anger, he would appear weak.
"Mr. Wei, your reason doesn't hold up," the board member continued impassively. "If you wanted to see him, the party lasted a day and a night. Why couldn't you see him during the party? Why did you have to go back after everyone had left?"
"Because I accidentally offended him, so of course I needed to apologize in private."
"How did you offend him?"
"I said something disrespectful to Mr. Jefferson."
"Is that so? We heard that Mr. Jefferson fired a servant on the day of the party, and that servant disappeared after leaving."
Wei Lin's heart jolted. The servant's disappearance surely wasn't because Jefferson was angry, but most likely because he had indeed seen something!
"Mr. Wei, aren't you going to offer any explanation? Or should we make a special call to Mr. Jefferson to ask what really happened?"
There was no way to gloss over this. Wei Lin gritted his teeth hard and could only tell the truth: "After Miss left the party, I was worried, so I asked the servant to keep an eye on her for me."
"It seems you were monitoring Miss. What were your intentions?"
"It wasn't monitoring, I was just worried something might happen to her..."
"At the time, Miss left with your fiancée. What was there to worry about? Were you concerned your fiancée might do something bad to her?"
"..."
Wei Lin's throat went dry. He swallowed uncomfortably, feeling as if a large net had fallen over him, wrapping around his body and tightening.
It seemed no matter how hard he struggled... he couldn't break free.
"Then let's look at something else..." the board member continued, pulling out more documents.
"In 2004, for the Mosul commission project, you conceded benefits to the rival Zade Group. Any objections?"
As he spoke, he pushed the documents towards Wei Lin.
2004... Wei Lin could barely remember that affair!
But they had dug it up anyway.
That time was a test of his abilities by the old man. Wei Lin was inexperienced then, lacking in capability. To complete the project and make things look good, he did concede some of the group's interests. But who hadn't done something like that before? Wasn't it fine as long as the project was ultimately successful?
He couldn't help but look around the room again. Among these people, who was truly clean?
Wasn't every business deal conducted in a tug-of-war of interests? When was there ever a 100% ideal outcome?
"In 2005, a serious conflict occurred at a subsidiary company. You were responsible for quelling this incident. There's evidence suggesting you accepted bribes during this event. Any objections?"
"In the same year and the following year, you engaged in improper private transactions with Horizon Company for two years. Any objections?"
"In 2006, your assistant leaked the whereabouts of Second Miss and Second Young Master. Although it didn't result in an accident..."
"..."
"Also, in the protective action during the conflict with Ke Muning, were there any unreasonable aspects to your operations at the time?"
"..."
One incident after another, some of which Wei Lin himself could barely remember. For a moment, he even suspected Wei Wenjuan might be deliberately framing him...
But whether that was true or not didn't matter at this point.
The barrage of questions was designed to leave him no room for rebuttal.
The room was dead silent.
The silence made Wei Lin feel like he was sitting on pins and needles. His mind was crammed with all sorts of thoughts, yet he struggled to organize them into an effective counterattack in that moment.
"Since there are no objections, let's make the call then," the board member said with a frown, putting down the folder in his hand.
"Make a call?"
"Call Kurokawa Shin and tell him to release Miss," the board member said coldly.
"In the days I've been detained, hasn't the kidnapper called you? Didn't they make any demands? Don't you find that strange?" Wei Lin couldn't hold back anymore. He scanned over them as if looking at fools who had been given a magic potion.
Yes, a magic potion!
Wei Wenjuan remained silent, as if he had nothing to do with it.
Unless he had given these old fools some kind of magic potion, how else could he have managed to get them to unanimously turn their guns on him?
That little girl could be called a prodigy.
Wei Wenjuan had wasted so many years, how could he have such ability!
"Strange?" The board member looked at him. "Because they couldn't contact you, the other side didn't know what to do next, so they delayed calling. Isn't that the case?"
Wei Lin tilted his head back, feeling his wound hurt even more.
He... he was at a loss for words!
"Make the call. Hopefully, Miss can return safely. That way, we won't have to resort to the family's severest punishment," the board member continued.
If Wei Lin had listened carefully, he would have heard the sincere advice in their words.
But Wei Lin was filled only with resentment.
He let out a cold laugh: "Fine, I'll make the call... Kurokawa Shin will probably be baffled when he receives it!"
"Because this is nothing but a forced confession from you!"
Wei Wenjuan turned the band of his watch, his eyes coldly fixed on Wei Lin: "Forced? No one has beaten you."
Wei Lin's gaze flickered.
Indeed.
Wei Wenjuan had actually controlled his emotions. Apart from losing control and firing that shot when they first met, which had established in everyone's minds the threat that he might go crazy and die with everyone at any moment...
He had instead become "civilized."
He had hidden himself behind the scenes.
No one could accuse him of "framing" anyone.
So... who taught him this move?
Who had reined in his emotions?
Knowing that Little Duck was gone, he should have gone mad.
It couldn't have been that little girl...
"Mr. Wei, do you intend to stubbornly resist to the end? Do you want us to hand you over to the police?" the board member frowned.
Damn it, just make the call, admit to a couple of things you should, deny everything else! Be proactive about getting the child back. Is it that hard to end this quickly?
The board members were getting impatient too.
